Day 2332

Wednesday February 21st 2024

Dear Journal:

So a bit of a different day here in Arizona today, after a number of days of full sunshine, today is cooler and cloudy, the storms that have been pummeling California with snow and rain are now just catching the western edge of Arizona, but we are getting the clouds from there even in our area all the way from California. The Arizona high plains (rim country) will receive some rain and possibly an inch of snow, again not much precipitation but every little bit helps here in the desert. Although the morning cloud did give us a glorias sunrise, as we watch some morning television while enjoying a cup of fresh perked coffee with a wee Irish blessing.

Today is a shopping day, we need to do some major restocking, so we are going to met up with Ray & Karen at the Queen Creek Costco for some lunch and a shopping day, so besides Costco we will visit an Aldi, a Fry’s, Trader Joes, as well as Total Wine. Our schedule is a noon meet up at the Costco and see where the day takes us, the local price of fuel has been climbing the last couple of weeks. Seems as if someone in a country far, far away even farts, the price of fuel in the States takes a major jump, at least I think a jump of more than 10% is excessive. Now call me an old curmudgeon but I think it is just corporate greed, but what do I know.

Miss Laurie prepared an omelet this morning for breakfast, as we watched the most recent news both local and international the weather is not hot but it is certainly shorts weather, in fact the last week or so has been. As we head out Miss Laurie is driving the towed, and I get to sit back and just enjoy the view, and the view is not always pretty, and our route is simple, US-60 east toward Phoenix then we take Elsmere road south to Queens Creek. As we head east on highway 60 we climb in elevation to Gonzales Pass, and then its pretty much downhill into the valley, as we drive I notice RVs parked in multiple different areas, we assume they are on State Trust land. We must keep in mind that we are still in the height of “Snowbird Season” when thousands of people converge on Arizona to suck up the vitamin “D” and many do so while boondocking on BLM or State Trust land. And as we drive along there are many other remnants of the RVers, I notice in the road debris besides the regular exploded tire remains there is a “stinky slinky” (sewer hose) that some one has lost as well a number of camping item like camp chairs and other items that have blown out of someone’s pick-up bed.

The price of fuel is up, wow like up big time. Our last fill up was at $3.059 for a gallon and now the price appears to be $3.599, well over that 10% mark that I feared. Now my only hope is that the price at Costco will be better and luckily it was priced today at only $3.199, still too much, but the best option this week as we topped off the towed fuel tank and wait for Ray & Karen in the Costco parking lot. This is one of the newer Costco’s in the area and as of yet seems less busy than the one in Mesa. We jumped into Ray’s Super Duty 450 Ford Dually pick-up which is always detailed to the max. And we headed of to our favorite Mexican restaurant that just happens to be in the same plaza as Trader Joe’s and Total Wine, very convenient and it’s always best to shop on a full tummy.

I picked up a quart of “Electric Orange” moonshine at Total Wine, that I hope to try and sample tomorrow, Miss Karen & Laurie went into Trader Joes while Ray and myself stayed in the truck, it had been a number of weeks since we had seen Ray & Karen and it is always good to catch up. Mister Ray who is very competitive is pretty much healed up from his latest “pickleball injury” an ankle injury and he is now telling us that he is going to slowdown and be more careful, I agreed it was a great idea, it is also an idea that I don’t totally believe. We spoke again about getting the kayaks in the water, but excessive wind and busy schedules have not allowed that to come into fruition yet but hopefully soon. We headed back to the Costco where the most financial damage was done and it was also where we said good bye to the Savino’s as we are now heading for Aldi and Fry’s to complete our shopping list that Miss Laurie has put together. We find the price of supplies (groceries) more expensive here than back in Canada, and again I’m thinking corporate greed is the driving factor although some items still remain ridiculously low, like $1.20 for a gallon of milk less than half of the price of milk in Ontario!

We made it back to the Arboretum at 5:20 and expected to have to get our key to unlock the big gate, but were lucky to find Anthony from the security detail just exiting so we were able to sneak in without fighting with the fire department padlock lock system. After unloading the towed and Miss Laurie putting most of the supplies away we sat to watch some evening television, I had some of my left over lunch, we weren’t really hungry as our American friends still serve portions that are way too much for dinner or lunch, and usually after eating out we don’t need another meal that day. Miss Laurie bought me “Mini Eggs” one of my favorite Easter treats and I have managed not to open them yet, which means they will last a little longer than expected. We watched the Chicago trinity tonight Med. FD, and PD. That series that intertwine on NBC, I believe that Dick Wolf is the producer Miss Laurie only likes the MED and Fire department ones but I also enjoy the Police one as well. But tonight I just read for an hour or so instead of watching the show, I have scored a book that 20 people are waiting for and although it started off dry it has picked up and now I’m having trouble putting it down.

The name of the book is titled “Erasure” written by Percival Everett, an author that I had never read before, but will be exploring more in the future. This novel is the basis for another recent movie “American Fiction” which has been nominated for a few Oscars this year.

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Weavers Needle is a 1,000-foot-high (300 m) column of rock that forms a distinctive peak visible for many miles around. Located in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, Arizona, Weavers Needle was created when a thick layer of tuff (fused volcanic ash)—a volcanic plug^[3]—was heavily eroded, creating the spire as an erosional remnant with a summit elevation of 4,555 feet (1,388 m). It is set in a desert landscape of cactus and mesquite bush, with large Saguaro cacti particularly prominent. The peak was named after mountain man Pauline Weaver.

It’s now a few moment to eleven and I need to put the book down and get to bed, my walk around the Arboretum counter-clockwise has my hips aching tonight, but I just had to get out there and see where the best views were of Weavers Needle are, after all the inquires last weekend, and now I know where it can be seen. The days have been warm enough and the nights have not been as cool so another night with no heater, which allows the coyotes howls to be heard.

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